JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound @ Hotel Foster

Feb. 16, 2013

The
retro soul revival of the last few years, led in large part by the likes of
Daptone Records, has produced its fair share of quality music, but even at its
best it comes with some persistent philosophical questions that get in the way.
Shouldn’t we be looking forward, not backward? And even if we can recreate the
timbre and feel of classic funk and soul, does it still mean the same things in
2013 that it did in the ’60s and ’70s? The music may be the same, but are we
the same? Many of these concerns are well embodied by Chicago outfit JC Brooks
and the Uptown Sound, which borrows liberally from the greats of the genre and,
on occasion, does them justice. Wondering why they don’t make ’em like they
used to? Well here’s a band that makes them exactly
like they used to, which is their greatest asset as well as their biggest
flaw.

Recording
for Bloodshot Records, home to such other throwback acts as the Old 97s and The
Waco Brothers, Brooks and company seem to pine for the sophisticated sartorial
sense of the old days as much as the music. Decked out in sharp suits and shiny
shoes, they were a perfect fit for the swanky, fashion-forward Hotel Foster,
with its stylish bric-a-brac and signature (read: expensive) cocktails served
in Mason jars. The real reason to turn up before 10:30 p.m. was not the
ambiance, however, but the presence of John Kuester—also known as local hip-hop
artist extraordinaire Kid Millions—on the decks. Kuester’s impeccable taste in
old-school funk and soul 45s mostly kept the sold-out crowd in high spirits
until it was time for the band to perform.

Without
a deep discography to draw from—their debut album, Beat of Our Own Drum, came out in 2009—the band members touched on
almost all of their material during their hour-and-a-half set, transitioning
from sweaty, backbeat-heavy stompers like “Baadnews” from 2011’s Want More to sprightly new songs from
their upcoming LP, which sound comparatively contemporary by reaching for
reference points like Prince as much as James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Otis
Redding (how’s that for stretching?). Cracks started to show when they seemed
to start running out of things to play, which came shortly after their
crowd-pleasing cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” How can you
notroll your eyes at a medley that
includes bothGnarls Barkley’s
“Crazy” and Moby’s “Natural Blues”?

When
the band was clicking and Brooks—a preening, big-voiced belter with charisma to
spare—succeeded at captivating the unwieldy audience, The Uptown Sound did well
by the influences it apes so overtly. The group left the stage on one such high
note with “Baltimore Is the New Brooklyn” (probably their best song), but at
other times they came off like little more than a self-aggrandizing cover band,
which was when you started wondering whether it was so wise to part with your
$12 at the door. At its nadir, the show exposed JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound
as what they are, empty easy listening laced with enough nostalgia to choke a
horse. In a few shining moments, though, they revealed what they can be—an honest interpretation of old
sounds that still have a lot of power. Frustratingly, however, those moments
were few and far between.